Tuesday Bolts – 11.29.16

Micah Adams of ESPN Insider: “Russell Westbrook — now No. 2 in our overall player

rankings — is averaging a triple-double for the season with 30.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG and 11.3 APG. Only Oscar Robertson (in 1961-62) averaged a triple-double entering December, and Westbrook just needs to grab four rebounds against the Wizards on Wednesday to keep his triple-double average going into next month.”

James Herbert of CBSSports.com: “Thunder coach Billy Donovan praised Westbrook for chasing loose balls and fighting for rebounds at Madison Square Garden — he thinks that sort of spirit sends a message to the team. He noted that Westbrook gave Adams confidence in the third quarter by passing him the ball in the post, showing that he believes in him. Careful not to dismiss the absurd averages, Donovan called them “historic” and “amazing.” He just wanted to be clear that they are in pursuit of winning.”

Russ is averaging a triple-double now.

Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer: “The world has changed a lot since then, and so has basketball. In 1962, the NBA was a nine-team league that lacked the global talent that defines it today. The game’s stars also stayed on the court longer. Robertson played 44.3 minutes per game. Westbrook plays 8.9 fewer minutes per game. Teams also played rapidly — an up-and-down, fast-paced affair — averaging 107.7 shots per game. Teams take roughly 23 fewer shots per game today, meaning there’s less opportunity for Westbrook to accumulate these ridiculous averages. By averaging a triple-double in 2016, Westbrook is pushing the limits of what a modern player should be capable of.”

Erik Horne: “Enes Kanter cut baseline, and Russell Westbrook picked him out for what looked liked a surefire dunk. Kanter was blocked. But the Thunder didn’t quit on the play. Andre Roberson and Kanter attacked the offensive glass, Roberson’s tip missing before Kanter followed up with his tip shot rattling home to the ire of a packed Madison Square Garden. The Thunder secured a 112-103 win over the Knicks on Monday, its third win in a row, with effort on the offensive glass. In addition to his team-high 27 points, Kanter had six of the Thunder’s 17 offensive rebounds, including his key tip for the final points.”

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com has OKC 11th: “OKC is like that person you meet at the party and you think “Hey, we have stuff in common, we could be friends!” except every now and again they say something that is just really awkward. Or in other words, the Thunder are all of us. Anyway, they lost to the Pacers and beat the pants off the Pistons. Sure.”

Steinline has OKC 11th: “The Thunder were 18-0 last season when Russell Westbrook delivered a triple-double. This season? They’re a pretty passable 5-2 so far, with Westbrook on pace for (gulp) 32 triple-doubles. The question, then, is whether you really think, as some skeptics suggest, that OKC would be wiser for the long term if Angry Russ touched the ball less. Speaking purely for us, 31.2 PPG, 11.1 APG and 9.9 RPG is too much fun to denounce this running-every-possession-through-him thing.”

NBA.com has OKC 15th: “The Thunder were on their way to a second four-game losing streak before coming back from 11 points down with less than four minutes to go in Denver on Friday. Anthony Morrow hit a couple of big shots in that one and then scored 21 points (his highest total in more than 19 months) in Saturday’s win over Detroit. Morrow’s shooting obviously complements Russell Westbrook well (and the Thunder need shooting), but he has been a rotation afterthought for much of Billy Donovan’s tenure in OKC.”

Shea Serrano of The Ringer: “That’s Russell Westbrook westbrooking the meaning of life out of Clint Capela’s eye sockets. Russell Westbrook always dunks it like great white sharks attack seals in Discovery Channel documentaries about elite hunters. Russell Westbrook always dunks it like someone told him if he dunks it hard enough he’ll be able to stop global warming. Russell Westbrook always dunks it like it was one of those old Western movies and he just found out it was the rim who shot his father all those years ago.
As far as scoring this dunk goes, I’ll say this much: It’s the highest-rated disrespectful dunk we’re scoring today.”